Blackness Meaning
/ˈblæknəs/Definition, CEFR level B2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounThe state or quality of being black in colour.
nounAny space that such colour pervades.
Sentence Examples
Tom stared into the impenetrable blackness of the night sky.
The pupils of her eyes had the blackness of a deep chasm.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The sudden power failure plunged the entire city into total ____ without any stars.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The ____ of the night was total, and I could not see my own hands.
Word Origin & History
Inherited from Middle English blaknesse, equivalent to black + -ness. Sense 5 most likely both originated from the masque The Masque of Blackness by Ben Jonson and later changed to its current positive sense.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"The lights of Luluabourg disappeared, and we were in the blackness of the African night, which was continuously pierced by the showers of red sparks ejected skywards and red hot ashes deposited on the track as the fireman rocked his fire."
— 1958 February 26, Arthur F. Beckenham, “A Journey in the Belgian Congo”, in Railway Magazine, page 93:
"The guest room was full of the noise of the rain falling on fragrant branches in the framed blackness of the open window."
— 1957 March 7, Vladimir Nabokov, chapter 4.8, in Pnin, Heinemann, page 108:
"She had seen so much of the blacker side of human nature that blackness no longer startled her as it should do."
— 1860 January – 1861 April, Anthony Trollope, Framley Parsonage. […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), London: Smith, Elder and Co., […], published April 1861, →OCLC:
"“Black Panther” is a stunning visual and cultural achievement that takes superhero cinema where it’s never gone before by not being afraid to embrace its blackness."
— 2018 February 12, David Betancourt, “‘Black Panther’ fully embraces its blackness—and that's what makes it unforgettable”, in The Washington Post, archived from the original on 12 Feb 2018:
"It is Blackless, hence it shares that very quality, Blacklessness, with Whiteness; and it is Whiteless, hence it shares Whitelessness with Blackness."
— 1999, Alfonso de Toro, Fernando de Toro, Jorge Luis Borges: Thought and Knowledge in the XXth Century, page 180:
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CEFR Practice Quiz
The sudden power failure plunged the entire city into total ____ without any stars.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The ____ of the night was total, and I could not see my own hands.